Alcohol Withdrawal and Crime

Often, people will assume that alcohol is far less dangerous and hazardous than illegal drugs. However, this is far from the truth as alcohol is extremely potent and has been known to cause a host of health-related issues. Moreover, when trying to overcome an alcohol addiction, the affected individual will often experience alcohol withdrawal, which acts as a barrier to their recovery.

This can prevent the addict from wanting to recover as he or she might fear the alcohol withdrawals more than anything else. In many cases, the addict will leave the addiction to spiral out of control before finally committing to recovery just because he or she has been frightened at the thought of dealing with alcohol withdrawal symptoms.

Erratic and Violent

Richard Jackson is someone that should be looking at alcohol addiction treatment; this person was recently arrested after a four-hour stand-off with police at his home. He was behaving erratically and violently and was seen holding a revolver to his head. After searching his home, police found a large stash of weapons; Jackson admitted to possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear and criminal damage.

Grimsby Crown Court heard how earlier in the day he had left three women fearing for their lives after he pointed a gun at them during an argument. At the hearing, he also pleaded guilty to dangerous driving while having no licence or insurance and breaching a twelve-week suspended jail sentence condition.

Totally and Utterly Oblivious

Prosecutor Jeremy Evans explained that witnesses saw Jackson firing three shots at a block of flats in Immingham with a ???gangster type??? revolver. He was then seen getting into a car and speeding around a car park before crashing into another vehicle. After this, he drove out of the car park and nearly hit a child on a bicycle.

Three women who were travelling in a car witnessed what was happening and followed Jackson while sounding the car horn to warn others of the impending danger. The women said that once they confronted Jackson, he seemed ???totally and utterly oblivious??? to the actions he had just taken and that he appeared to be spaced out. He swerved his car and then pointed the revolver at the women, who were clearly very disturbed by this. The women quickly fled the scene, with Jackson tailing their car for a short period.

Drunk, Disorderly and Uncooperative

In the aftermath of the destruction he caused, he went back to his home. He was drunk, disorderly and uncooperative; leaving armed police outside his property for four hours before he surrendered. Upon entering the property, police found bullets, a hammer, axe, machete, samurai sword, handgun, air rifle, air gun pellets, a paintball gun, ball bearings, and numerous empty bottles of alcohol.

Ian Goldsack, mitigating, told the court that Jackson has been ???bedevilled by a fairly crippling addiction??? to alcohol and this is what led him to criminal activity. ???Things got out of control with his drinking over that weekend. He is very sorry for what he has done. He cannot begin to explain it,??? said Mr Goldsack.

Alarming Offences

Judge Simon Jack responded by saying, ???They were alarming offences. You were out and about with an imitation firearm, a very realistic looking imitation firearm. It must have been very frightening indeed. There was a four-hour stand-off with the police.??? He sentenced Jackson to one year and eleven months in jail; he also received a four-year driving ban and must re-sit an extended test.

PC Tom Kelly, who oversaw the investigation, said, ???Thankfully, incidents of this nature are extremely rare. I would like to thank the people of Immingham for their assistance in this case, both at the time of the incident and during the subsequent investigation. A number of witnesses were praised during the hearing for their courage in calling police and for following Jackson???s movements around the town. This case shows that this kind of behaviour will not be tolerated and will be dealt with severely.???

What Is Alcohol Withdrawal?

It appears that from the story above Jackson has an alcohol addiction that should have been treated. Maybe he was afraid of going through alcohol withdrawal. Once the body has become used to the copious amounts of alcohol being consumed by the individual, it can be extremely hazardous if the person suddenly stops. Alcohol withdrawal will occur when the affected individual stops abusing the substance; these are a host of physical and mental symptoms that vary in intensity, depending on the individual.

The withdrawal symptoms are a result of the body???s attempts to get back to normality. The likelihood is that the person will feel worse before feeling better, but this does not mean one should give up; once the individual has pushed through these symptoms, he or she will be ready to move into recovery.

Help and Support

Trying to get through alcohol withdrawal can be challenging at the best of times. Here at Addiction Helper, we want to help you find the best treatment facility for your circumstances; somewhere that you can go through alcohol withdrawal in a comfortable environment.

Our staff are helpful and will ensure that you find the best clinic and treatments to suit your specific needs. If you have any further questions, do not hesitate to contact us today and we will be more than happy to assist you.

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